Switching apparatus



NOV. 21, 1944. J OMALLEY 2,363,079

SWITCHING APPARATUS Fild June 16, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l grwczwtom JoszpaN. OHALLEY Nov. 21, 1944. J. M. OMALLEY 2,363,079

SWITCHING APPARATUS Filed June 16, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 g 3 ifwa 35 I'l \\\\\\l a 2'7 4? 2a Nov. 21, 1944. J. M. OMALLEY swmcnmq APPARATUSFiled June 16, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 lllllrll gvwmvtom Z7 Z9 Z0 3/ J2JOSEPH ,M. ONALL Y Mum;

Patented Nov. 21, 1944 s PATENT OFFIC 2,363,079 q n n SWITCHINGAPPARATUS Joseph M. OMalley, Worcester, Mass., assignor x to MorganConstruction Company, Worcester,

Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts .ApplicationlJunc 16.1943, SerialNo. 491,011

- This invention relates to switching apparatus,

and more particularlyto apparatus whereby elongatcdbars of stock,whichare deliveredendwise successively. in an overlapped: relationship,may

be directed selectively into any one of a plurality .5

of pathsor channels arranged toreceivesuch bars. i u

.While the invention is applicable to a variety of uses, itisparticularly;.adaptedfor installation between a billet heating.furnace and a multi-strand rolling mill. Such a rolling mill has abillets mustbe delivered successivelyinorder to maintain themill inoperation at its full capacity. When the front end of. each billet isfirst gripped t7Cjlainis..(Cl.19$--39) e n e B1, B2], B3, B4, etc.travel throughsuch a fur.-

nace broadside in army, and as theyarrive opposite theopening II theyare pushed endwise outwardly therethrough successively in a well-knownmanner. 1 AstructurelZ is located in ,aligmnent with the opening II andspaced therefrom, this plurality of parallel passlines into each ofwhich is still within the furnaceandin overlapped re-.

lationship with the following billet. Consequently a difiicult problemis involved in direct ing the billets into the desired pass line of themill without interference with the other: billets which have alreadyentered the mill and are in the process of being rolled.

It is accordingly one objector the invention to provide a comparativelysimple and dependable apparatus capable of directing successivelydelivered bars. into selected paths of travel. It is a further object ofthe invention to provide a switching apparatus particularly adapted forcontrolling hot metalqbillets as they travel .endwise from a heatingfurnace to a rolling mill.

With these andpther objects in view, as will be apparentito. thoseskilled in the art, the in-' vention resides in the combination of partsset forth inthe specification and covered 'byzthe claims appendedhereto. q

v Referring totheidrawings illustratingone embodiment of the invention;and in which like reference numeral indicate like parts, Fig. 1 is aplan view ofaswitching apparatus, with certain parts shown in section onthenline l-I of Fig.2;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the. apparatus, with certain parts brokenaway for clearness of illustration; i i Y 1 Fig. 3 is a section on theline 3-'3 of Fig. 2; -Fig. 4 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 2.butshowing the parts in a difierentoperating phase; Fig. 5 is a plan viewsimilar to Fig. 1 but showing the switch blades in different' positions;and Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5 but showing the switch bladesinstill different positions.

The embodiment illustrated comprises a billetheating furnace. N of: aconventional type havingthe usualj discharge opening U. Theibilletserably converges in the direction i of forward' travel of the stock.Within the trough there are mounted two switch blades l9 and 20, oneless st-ructureproviding three openings or channels M, I5 and I6arranged in a horizontal row and forming. the entrance guidesffor thefirst stand of rolls of a multi-strand rolling mill. Thenumber of theseentrance guideswill of course depend upon the design-of the. mill. Theinvention provides means for directing each billet, as it issues fromthe opening ll into any one of the en- .15 i by the rolls, aconsiderable portion of the billet trances. l4, l5 and l6 which theoperator may select, without interference with the pr'evio uslydelivered billets which are being drawn through the. other entrances bythe action of the rolls.

In its preferred form the invention includes a substantially horizontaltrough l8 locatedbetween the furnace. discharge opening l I and th eentrance .guide structure It. Thistrough prefin number than theentranceguides. The blade l9 islo'cated between the entrances I4 and [5,

whereas the blade 20 is located between the en trances l5,and IEL, Theseblades are keyed or otherwise secured at their frontends to verticalpins 22 and 23 respectively which arerotatably mounted in the bottom ofthetrough. This provides a pivotal support for each blade, so that theblades can be swung toward either side of thetrougln These blades aresomewhat greater in height than thelbillets. Preferably a lug or block25 projects upwardly from the bottom of the trough directly beyond eachblade.

. Power means is providedjor swinging the switch blades into the desiredpositions.

two spaced bearings 28-28. An arm 29 extends downwardly from one end ofthis shaft, and this arm is connected by a link 3| to an arm 32 on thelower end of the pin 23.; On the other end by a sleeve 4! which isrotatably supported there- .on, thissleeve having two projecting arms 42and 43. The arm is connected by .alink 45 to an arm '46 on the lower endof the pin 22.

For i this purpose a transverse horizontal shaft 21 is .rotatablysupported beneath the trough I 8 by The intermediate portion of theshaft 21 is surrounded i The arm 43 is connected by a vertical cable 41to the vertical piston rod 49 of the fluid motor 50. ,A weight issuspended from the arm 43. The motors 38 and 50 will be provided withsuitable and well-known manually operable pilot valves (not shown), sothat the weights 39 and 5| can be raised or lowered as desired, therebyswinging the switch blades to either side of the trough.

The billets traveling along the trough l8 tend to interfere with thelateral swinging of the switch blades, and in order to prevent suchinterference when the blades are to be adjusted I provide means to liftthe billets above the blades so that the blades may swing beneath switchblade arranged within the trough to dethem. For this purpose arectangular opening 53 is formed in the bottom of the trough l8 somewhatanterior to. the free ends of the switch blades, and within this openinga plate 54 is mounted. This plate is secured to a transverse horizontalshaft 55 extending beneath the opening 53 and rotatabl supported in twospaced bearings 5'l5'|. On one end of this shaft there is mounted an arm58 which is connected by a vertical cable 59 to the piston rod 6| of afluid motor 62. These parts are so arranged that by admitting pressurefluid to the motor 62 through a suitable manually operable pilot valve(not shown) the edge of the plate 54 adjacent the switch blades can beswung upwardly as shown in Fig. 4. This will raise the billets which aretraveling across the plate and thus allow the switch blades to be movedbeneath the'billets to the positions desired, whereupon the plate willbe lowered to its original position as shown in Fig.2.

The operation of the invention will now be apparent from the abovedisclosure. Assume that as shown in Fig. 1, billets Bl, B2 and B3- havebeen delivered successively to the entrances l5, l6 and I4. The tail endof billet B! is about to leave the trough, and the operator accordinglywill Wish to deliver the next billet B4 into the middle entrance l5 tofollow closely behind billet BI and keep this pass line of the rollingmill filled. In preparation for this, the switch blades I9 and have beenswung apart, the billets B3 and B2 traveling over the tops of theseblades. As the billet B4 is pushed out of the furnace opening and intothe trough, the front end of this billet will engage the blade l9 andthereby be deflected under the billet B3 and into the entrance l5. Afterthis billet B4 has been gripped by the rolls, the operator will raisethe plate 54, as shown in Fig. 4, and swing the switch blade 20 overinto contact with the blade I9, as shown in Fig. 5, thereupon loweringthe plate. Then when the next billet B5 is delivered, it will bedeflected by the blade 20 beneath the billets B3 and B4 and into theentrance It to follow behind the billet B2. After billet B5 has beengripped by the rolls, the plate 24 will again be raised and both switchblades will be swun over to the opposite side of the trough, as shown inFig. 6, the plate 24 then being lowered. The next billet 136 willthereupon be deflected by the blade l9 into the entrance I4 to followbehind the billet B3. In this manner the operator can continue to directsuccessive billets into selected entrances and keep all the pass linesof the rolling mill filled, so that the mill may operate at its fullcapacity.

The apparatus is simple, rugged and comparatively inexpensive.

Having thus described my invention, what I flect each bar toward aselected one of said entrances, and means to lift the bars above the topof the blade to allow lateral movement of the blade without interferencetherewith.

2. Switching apparatus for operation on successively delivered barstraveling endwise comprising a pair of adjacent entrances, a troughleading to the entrances, a switch blade pivotally mounted within thetrough and between the entrances, the blade being arranged to swinglaterally to either side so that it may serve to deflect each bar towarda selected one of said entrances, and means to lift the bars above thetop of the blade to allow the blade to swing without interferencetherewith.

3. Switching apparatus for operation on successively delivered barstraveling endwise comprising a pair of adjacent entrances, a troughleading to the entrances, a switch blade pivotally mounted within thetrough and between the entrances, the blade being greater in height thanthe-bars so that when one bar is resting on the blade a following barmay travel beneath the first bar, the blade being arranged to swinglaterally to either side so that it may serve to deflect each bar towarda selected one of said entrances, and means to lift the bars above thetop of the blade to allow-the blade to swing without interferencetherewith.

4. Switching apparatus for operation on successively delivered barstraveling endwise comprisin a pair of adjacent entrances, a troughleading to theentrances, a switch blade pivotally mounted within thetrough and between the entrances, the blade being arranged to swinglaterally to either side so that it may serv to deflect each bar towarda selected one of said entrances, a plate located anterior to the bladeand beneath the path of the bars, and means to raise the plate-andthereby lift the bars above the top of the blade to'allow the blade toswing without interference therewith.

5. Switching apparatus for operation on successively delivered barstraveling endwise comprising a pair of adjacent entrances, a troughleading to the entrancesa switch blade pivotally mounted within thetrough and between the entrances, the blade being greater in height thanthe bars so that when one bar is resting on the blade a followingbar'may travel beneath the.

first bar, the blade being arranged to swing laterally to either side sothat it ma serv to defleet each bar toward a selected one of saidentrances, the trough having an opening in its bottom wall anterior tothe blade, a plate mounted in the opening, and means to raise the plateand thereby lift the bars above the top of the blade to allow the bladeto swing without interference therewith. i

6. Switching apparatus for operation on successively delivered barstraveling endwise comprising more. than two entrances arranged in ahorizontal row, a trough leading to the entrances, switch bladespivotally mounted within the trough and one less in number than theentrances, each blade being located between a pair of adjacent entrancesand being greater in height than the bars so that when one bar isresting on the'blade plate located anterior to the blades and beneaththe path of the bars, and means to raise the plate and thereby lift thebars above the tops of without the blades to allow the blades to swinginterference therewith.

7. Switching apparatus for operation on sue cessively delivered barstraveling endwise comprising more than two entrances arranged in ahorizontal row, a trough leading to the entrances,

switch blades pivotally mounted within the trough blade being locatedbetween a pair of adjacent I entrances and being greaterin heightthanthe bars so that when one bar is resting on the blade a followingbar may travel beneath the first bar, means to swing the blades towardeither side of the trough so that they may serve to deflect each bartoward a selected entrance, the trough having an opening in its bottomwall anterior to and one less in number than theentrances, each 15 theblades, a plate pivotally mounted in the opening, and means to swing theplate upwardly and thereby lift the bars above the tops of the blades toallow the blades to swing without interference therewith.

JOSEPH M. OMALLEY.

